External Fire
by Elillierose
Summary: Sometimes the enemy isn't always one you can see.


**Just a quick little one-shot I threw together. C: Not perfect, but hopefully some will still enjoy it. As per my pattern, a chapter story will be coming next.**

* * *

After all the things and events they had been through lately, taking on yet another task was something none of them were too fond of. Well, let alone for the exception of one person in particular. "Come on guys, I mean it's not that far out of our way if you think about it." Prompto urged them, voice borderline begging by now, "We'll go in, get the shot, and get out."

"We've been through this, it's not in our best interest to be taking on more errands." Ignis tried to be the rational one here. They needed to take a moment to recharge a bit, going on for almost a week non-stop could not have been good for them.

"I'm paying generously for this ya'know." Vyv threw in his two cents, "It would look pretty cool on the front page after all." He waved his hand about as he spoke, a quiet and subtle gesture to try and sway them. Though, it wasn't exactly graceful in the manner he did it.

Prompto fidgeted in his spot, glancing from Vyv back over to Ignis then to the others. "You have to admit, getting a picture of this would be pretty cool, right? How many people can say they were able to trek there and live to tell the tale?" His words took on a sound of pure wonder, as if the thought itself was magical. "It's not every day an opportunity like this comes along."

Ignis drew in an exasperated breath and slowly let it out, "Prompto, I can assure you the lava falls aren't going anywhere anytime soon. There will be plenty of other chances."

Gladio felt inclined to agree with him, "Yeah, it'll just have to wait until another day, we aren't even headed in that direction."

Prompto felt a little disheartened about their decision, but he knew he was in no place to object to that, and just let it be. "Alright, you're right. I guess I'll just have to wait for the next time I get offered to get paid to get an awesome photo."

"Quit being so dramatic." Noctis patted him on the shoulder as he turned to walk away. "It's like Ignis said, there will be another chance."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand." Prompto waved a hand, "It's not a big deal." He turned back to Vyv and gave him a sad smile, "Sorry man, but you heard them. Hope you'll find someone else who can get the shot for ya." The latter smiled back as the blond paced back to catch up with the others. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" He asked, mood seemingly much more positive than it was just a moment ago.

Ignis thought on it a moment before speaking, "Well, I was hoping to take things a little easy for today. And by easy, I mean restock on everything; we are running a tad low on supplies after all." He cut his eyes over to Noctis as he said this, not hiding the blame in his gaze.

The prince caught the look and shrugged it off, "Someone had to get the ball rolling."

"That doesn't mean you have to charge in and get yourself nearly killed." Gladio happily reminded. "Nearly used every potion we had left on your impatient ass." He folded his arms across his chest, turning to the adviser now, "I'm going to go take a much needed nap if you need me."

"Very well." He responded, "You two can accompany me then, that is, if you don't have anything better to do."

Prompto's eyes lit up in amusement at that, "Well, now that you mention it." He gazed around at the sky, and then at the various sights around him and instinctively pulled out his camera, "I was planning on at least getting some pictures of something. And the lighting during this time of day doooooes happen to work pretty well and all. Not too bright, but not too dull either." His words went on longer than necessary in his attempt at hinting to the other.

"Just don't get into trouble." Ignis sighed. "Noct, guess that just leaves the two of us to be the responsible ones."

The prince didn't exactly seem enthused about that prospect, but what was there to be done about it. He supposed it was the least he could do for being the primary reason for their dwindling equipment. "Fine, let's get this over with." He huffed out, putting his hands behind his head.

"I'll catch up with you guys soon." Prompto waved them off, attention immediately going down to his camera now as he turned it on. He gave a quick look around, searching for the perfect place to get the best angles, eyes landing on the foliage decorated center piece. Seemed like a decent enough spot to get a few shots anyway. Standing at the edge of it, he scanned the area, trying to decide what he wanted to get a shot of first. Finding something, he lifted his camera up, adjusting the focus, but stopped when a particular set of words caught his ear. He picked up on "Rock of Ravatogh" With that he found himself zoning in on their conversation.

"-eah, I saw the strangest thing passing by." One of them was saying. It sounded like an older man.

"It's been a long day, honey, I'm sure you were just seeing things." A woman replied. "There's nothing around there except for vile creatures and monsters." With this, his interest was piqued.

As the passed by, his gaze stayed on them for a few more seconds until he could no longer hold himself back and jogged up behind them, tapping the guy on the shoulder. He jumped a bit at the unexpected contact and twirled around, "Wha-" He started, calming down realizing that whoever it was meant no harm. "Oh, what do you want?" He asked, a bit on the defensive side now, not too fond of someone grabbing his shoulder like that.

"You uh, you mentioned something about seeing something at the Rock of Ravatogh?" He asked sheepishly, eyes looking just past the man, "I promise I wasn't eavesdropping." He quickly put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "I just happened to overhear a minor...part...of your conversation." He sentence slowed towards the end as he noticed how guilty that must have sounded to them.

He looked at the blond warily, opening his mouth to speak, but the woman, who he assumed to be the man's wife, piped in. "It's nothing." Her words were laced with annoyance, "He thinks he saw some weird structure up there, but just ignore it. His eyes play tricks on him all the time, now if you don't mind." She finished by waving a hand indicating that he should leave them alone now.

"Wait." He blurted out without hesitation, "Wha-what kinda of structure?" He fixed his eyes on the man, choosing to ignore the woman if he was able to.

He looked nervously from his wife and back to the other. Throwing her hands up in exasperation, she walked off. "Let me know when you're done with your stupid conspiracy talk. I'll be waiting over here until then." Prompto winced out of pity for what this guy was probably going to have to put up with thanks to him.

Swallowing hard, he looked back to the blond. "I saw something up there. I don't know what it was, but it looked light colored, and it was oddly shaped. Never seen anything like that in my life, so I was just curious about what it might have been, ya know?" Prompto nodded in agreement, urging the man to go on. "Well. it was sorta...dome shaped, I wanna say. And it was right towards the top, pretty difficult to see from where I was, but I'm certa-"

"Thanks, that helps a lot." Prompto accidentally cut him off in his hurry, the news bringing him new hope. With a spin, he darted in the opposite direction, leaving the man behind baffled at this sudden change in mood. Prompto made his way towards the same direction he remembered the other two going in, going at a moderate jog. Steering his way around groups of people, narrowly missing a few of them, he finally found the two he was searching for.

"Iggy! Noct!" He called out. The stopped long enough for him to catch up, waiting as he leaned over with his hands on his knees, now catching his breath. After a second, he straightened back up, "I think I have some good news."

"Well, out with it." Noctis pressed, hands on his hips now.

"Yeah, I overheard some people talking. You know, a couple of random people, so not sure how reliable this info is, buuuut it sounded pretty genuine to me, so I think it may be worth checking out." He fiddled with his fingers now, "Again, not sure how much we can trust this..."

"Prompto." Ignis spoke up sternly, "Get to the point."

"Right. They mentioned, well one of them mentioned, seeing a strange structure, and it sounded a lot like a tomb to me." He held his hands up, "Not saying that's what it was for sure, but it sure sounded like it."

"Are you sure about that?" Noctis asked skeptically.

Prompto thought for a moment, "...No. Though, I'm pretty positive."

"What exactly did he say?" Ignis asked, now listening intently.

Prompto nodded, "Well, he mentioned that he saw something, and that it was light in color and dome shaped. Said he never seen a structure like it before, so I just figured." He shrugged, now realizing how unlikely it all sounded, and now that he thought about it, that wasn't very descriptive at all.

"Did he happen to say where he saw it?" Ignis asked, surprising the blond a bit with his curiosity. He half expected him to blow it off as nothing, or nonsensical ramblings.

He looked off to the side as he debated answering that. "Oddly enough, it just happens to be at the same place as um, the lava falls." He saw the look the others were giving him, a look of disbelief. "I promise I'm not making this up, he quickly defended, "I wouldn't lie about stuff like that." He answered honestly. Sure he wanted to get those pictures, but he wouldn't make something up like this just to do it.

"I don't doubt what you're saying." Ignis reassured, "It's just that it's still quite the trek, even for a royal arm."

Prompto gave him a sly, yet innocent smile, "It wouldn't hurt to see for ourselves if it's actually there." He tried to persuade. "Plus, while we're up there, I...may as well get that shot. Two birds with one stone. Get a new weapon for Noct, and we can make a bit of cash. So, what do ya say?"

Ignis really didn't want to travel all that way, on the off chance that it really was just speculations from a tourist, but this was also a royal arm they were talking about if it turned out to be true. With a heavy sigh he gave in, "Very well, what does his highness think?"

"Hmm?" Noctis looked a bit shock at the inquisition, "I say we go for it. If what they say is true, then it wouldn't hurt to obtain that one as well."

Ignis nodded in confirmation, "That's it then I suppose. But, I do want us to stay here for the night, and we can leave first thing in the morning. That way we can have a full day of sunlight to search." He could practically see the blond's face light up at the prospect of it. "Remember, this is for the tomb. Though, I won't stop you from taking whatever pictures you want to take."

"Oh yeah, of course." Prompto replied, realizing he still had his camera out. Quickly, he put it away and waved to the others. "I'm going back to our room then, let Gladio know what's going on."

Ignis held up a hand for him to wait a moment, "Make sure you let Vyv know that we accept the job while you're at it." With a final and quick nod, Prompto made his way back over to where he came from, excitement now at an all-time high.

* * *

The next morning could not have come soon enough, the blond barely sleeping that night in anticipation. As rare as it was, he was actually the second one awake, Ignis being the first of course, as per usual. He sat next to the window now, knowing it would be some time for Noctis to be up and ready. Gazing out, he watched as the various people were now walking around, going about their morning routines just like any other day. No where near as many as there were in the evening, but it was still quite a few.

"Care to wake up the others while prepare breakfast?" Ignis asked, already rummaging around in the kitchen area. Prompto nodded, wondering how all that noise wasn't enough to wake them up. He went to Gladio first, seeing as he would have been the easiest to get up, also, he could probably convince Noct to get up.

With all of them awake and ready, they finished up their meal, and quickly packed up for the day, leaving some stuff there since they had planned on coming back anyway. There was a little grumbling from Noctis at having to get up so early, but other than that there was just the usual conversing, mainly Ignis going over how they were going to go about this.

"I want this to be a quick and efficient trip." He started, "No unnecessary detours." His eyes scanned over to the blond, "You can get your picture, but other than that, please do refrain from wondering off if you can help it."

"Please, this is me we're talking about." He replied lightly, "Do I look like the type to make extra trips unless I have to?"

Ignis only cut his eyes at him. "I would like to avoid staying there overnight, so I suggest we be quick about this. That place is already swarming with vile creatures, and it would not be in our best interest to see what the night has to offer."

"We get it specs." Noctis replied, "We'll be quick about this, don't worry."

Gladio shot a glance in his direction, "That also means taking no more unneeded risks ya know." He said with a nudge of his elbow.

"Yeah yeah, I got it." He responded a bit annoyed and brushed the others arm away. "Let's just go, we're wasting time, we can talk about it on the way." He got to his feet, using Gladio's shoulder as a means to push himself up as he strolled towards the door and waited by it for the others to join him.

"I'm with Noct on this one." Prompto agreed, quick to stroll over next to him.

Ignis took a deep breath and pushed his glasses further up his nose, waving a hand for Gladio to do the same, "Impatient as always, I see." He breathed out.

Within a few minutes, they were in the Regalia, heading towards their destination. "Did they happen to mention exactly where they saw this structure?" Ignis asked, "Or on which side for that matter. Any information of the sort would be rather useful."

"Umm..." Prompto started, tearing his eyes off the road in front of them to stare out the window now, "I didn't exactly ask." He replied quietly, "Didn't think about it." He shrugged.

"Guess we'll just have to do a bit of hiking to find it for ourselves." Gladio threw in, "Shouldn't be too hard of a task."

"Maybe not for you." The blond said in a playfully bitter tone, turning in his seat to look over the headrest. "But, as for the rest of us normies, it probably won't be as enjoyable."

With a snap of his fingers, Ignis got Prompto's attention back on him. And without a word, he pointed down at the seat. That was enough for him to get the message and he slowly turned back around to sit properly. He flashed an apologetic smile at him, "Sorry." He immediately turned his head back around to face the other, "So, I say you be the one to scout ahead and check things out."

"I think not." The larger replied. They rode the rest of the way in relative silence, the sound of the radio being about the only thing breaking that silence until the finally arrived and Ignis slowly pulled over to a stop. As soon as they stepped out, they were aware of the near unbearable heat beating down on them. Or at least it felt that way after leaving the comfortable temperature of the Regalia.

"Really gonna break a sweat with this one." Prompto commented, already swiping a hand across his brow.

"It's basically a volcano, what did you expect." Gladio stated flatly, taking a few steps in front of the others, peering up at the side of the mountain. "This is gonna be a tough one." He commented, scanning over the various juts and steep slopes.

"If you're the one saying that, then just imagine what it'll be like for us." Noctis followed his gaze, no longer looking forward to this now that he was seeing what they were in for.

Ignis strolled ahead of them now, setting their pace, "If we wish to get this over with, then I suggest we stop gaping at it and get a move on." He said lightly ad with a wave of his hand. It took only a few minutes before they were all swiping sweat from their faces and fanning themselves occasionally. They stopped as they stepped off dirt and onto solid rock, the transition between the two being almost instant.

Prompto let out a sigh of relief as they passed under a shaded area, "Now if only it could all be like this."

"Unfortunately, that won't be the case." Ignis reminded, "Don't forget whose idea it was to come here in the first place."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Just you wait, it'll be worth it" He let out a grunt as the ground suddenly sloped upward, "Doesn't mean I can't complain though." As he said that his foot slid back and he had to grab onto whoever was nearest to keep himself standing.

"Watch where you're walking at least." Gladio suggested, looking down at the hand that was now gripping his jacket.

"I'm watching, but my body isn't listening." He got back on his feet, holding a hand out until he had his balance once again. "Man, how far does this go?" He asked less than a minute later.

"Far enough." Noctis answered from in front of him, "But hey, on the bright side, I see light up ahead, so that's progress at least."

"Ah, 'bright side' I get it."

"I wasn't even- nevermind." Noctis brushed it off, trying to appreciate the joke at the very least. He held up a hand to shield his face as soon as they stepped out of the shade and the sun was now bearing back down on them full force. "This is ridiculous." He sighed out, "Why did I agree to this?"

"Because cool weapons." Prompto answered for him, covering his eyes in the same manner now. He glanced around, scanning for signs of the tomb, or anything even remotely resembling lava, coming up empty handed. "So, right or left?" He asked as his eyes fell upon the split ahead of them.

"We can try the left first." Ignis spoke up, already heading in that direction. Once he was close enough, he gazed down the length of it, "On second thought, maybe the other way will heed better results." Seeing the dead end, the others felt inclined to agree, making their way towards the other split. "Ah yes, this does appear to be a bit more promising."

"And just as fun as the last slope." Prompto spoke.

"Less whining, and more climbing." Gladio walked past, patting him on the should as he took the lead on this one. With another couple minutes of trekking, Gladio's sudden halt caused the others to do the same, Noctis nearly running into him. "Ok, this is gonna be tough, even for me." He admitted, glancing back at the others. "Gonna have to do this one at a time to avoid falling on each other." Of course, he took the first climb. The others following suit.

"You have to be kidding me." Prompto just now saw what he was talking about. This slope was ridiculously steep. "You expect us to be able to do that?"

"I don't see why not." Gladio replied, "Ignis and I did it no problem."

"Yeah, but that was just like a tenth of the way." He looked passed them, looking at how much further it went. "Alright, here goes nothing." With a few carefully placed steps he was next to them on the flat surface of the rock. Straightening back up, he let out a small hiss as he leaned forward to grab at his lower leg.

"Everything alright?" Ignis asked, gazing down at the clearly in pain man."

"Mmhmm." He gave a thumbs up, "Just a cramp." As it slowly subsided, he was able to stand fully back up. "Ok, all good."

Ignis only nodded and turned his attention to Noctis, who was now on his way up. Slowly he made it there, stopping to catch his breath when he finally did. "Now to do that about nine more times." Gladio smirked down at them as he started on the next one. With this process repeating, they were finally about half way up. As they were waiting on Noctis to reach them again, Prompto once more had to stop to massage cramps out of calves. Not to mention he was starting to feel them in his side now. "Are you sure everything is alright?" Ignis asked, seeing his obvious discomfort.

"Yeah." Prompto peered up, "Guess my body just isn't used to this kind of exercise." He decided not to mention the whole sides part. Ignis only hummed as a response, looking down to Noctis instead until he was caught up with them.

"Well, the good news is, we don't have much farther to go, that and getting down will at least be much easier." Gladio stated in an uplifted tone.

"Well, that's nice at least." Prompto agreed, swiping his hand over his face to wipe the sweat away, ignoring the beginnings of a headache he felt gradually coming on. It seemed to come out of nowhere with no warning.

"Alright, almost there." Noctis sighed out of relief upon reaching them. "After all this, that thing better be up here."

With their last final push, they made it to the top, all of them stopping to take a much needed breather after that. Although, with the sun constantly assaulting them, it wasn't exactly a refreshing rest, but it was something at least. Prompto took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little on the nauseous side of things, "Is it just me, or is it hotter than it was?" He asked, finding that his sweat was being replaced faster than it was before.

"Nah, it's not just you." Gladio answered, wiping his own face and removed his jacket.

"That's to be expected." Ignis informed, "And as we climb, as will the temperature."

The blond swallowed hard at that, "Well, that's just great." He was the first to start off again, now ready to get this over with now that his previous excitement was dwindling with this heat, "Let's keep going." He pushed aside his discomfort and took on a normal demeanor as if nothing was wrong.

After only going a few feet, there was a tremendous spike in heat, looking ahead, they could easily see why. "I think we're getting close to your lava falls now." Noctis said, looking at the glowing streaks of orange lacing along the ground. "Or, we can hope that's what those mean." He added, still not seeing the actual falls.

Walking a little further they came across their second split, one seemingly a lot less lava filled than the other. "If you guys want, you can go that way while I get the shot, if it is up there I mean. And when I'm done, I'll catch up." No point in making them all go through that when he was the one that wanted to go in the first place.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Ignis spoke up. "No one should be going anywhere alone."

"Yeah, but it will take less time if we have others searching for the tomb, given that it is actually here."

"You have a point, but I still don't like it." Ignis said, his stubbornness showing through.

"It's alright Iggy." Gladio stepped forward, "You and Noct can go the other way, I'll stick with Prompto. That should work, shouldn't it?"

It did bring him some comfort knowing that they weren't sending one member of their group off alone in such an area. "Very well, do be careful." He began heading in the other direction and waved for Noctis to follow, "Just follow this way when you're done."

"Yeah, we will." Gladio assured, ad turned to the blond, "Ok, let's do this. Be quick though, walking over this stuff will be far from pleasant."

"I got that." Prompto replied, stepping back from a puff of steam as it blew passed him, ruffling his bangs. "Just gotta avoid those, and we should be good." He said, stepping around the crack in the ground further than what was needed.

They tried to move quickly, both feeling the heat through the soles of their shoes. Looking down, the ground seemed to warp before their eyes with the growing temperature. The sick feeling Prompto previously felt only seemed to become more intense along with it. If he didn't know something was wrong before, he definitely did now as his vision blurred for a few seconds. Blinking a few times to clear it, he continued after the larger man, thankful he didn't notice his moment of uncertainty.

"I think I see it." Gladio called over his shoulder, "Just a little farther and we'll be there." He had to glance back over his shoulder when he became aware that the other wasn't as close behind him as he thought. "You coming?" He asked, hiding his slight concern behind his words.

The blond's gaze snapped up, he hadn't even realized how far behind he fell, "Uhh, yeah." He shook his head, trying to clear it, "Be there in a sec. Just, um, got a bit distracted." He quickly tried to throw out an excuse. He took a few deep breaths, finding that they didn't come as easily as before. Forcing himself to push through it, he eventually made it to Gladio. "I'll be right back, gonna go ahead and get the picture. You can wait here if you want."

"Just don't fall down there." Gladio joked, though he still meant what he said.

"Don't worry, I won't." He pulled out his camera as he walked and stopped a few yards away, far enough that he couldn't fall in, even if he were to be drunk. "Ok, here we go." He mumbled to himself, adjusting the lens as he tried to clear the image before realizing it wasn't the camera. He reached up to rub his eyes and tried again. With a quick snap, he smiled to himself, hoping it came out as well as he thought it did and put his camera away. He waved to Gladio to signal that he was done, and carefully made his way back over.

"Get a good one?" Gladio asked as he reached him.

"Dude, this is me we're talking about, of course I did." He gave a small smile and went to take a step, but stumbled a bit as he did so. The larger man was quick to grab his arm, keeping him from face planting straight onto scalding rock, aware of how hot the other's skin felt.

"Careful." He muttered, pulling him back up and holding on until he was sure he was steady, "What was that about?"

Prompto had to take a few steadying intakes, fighting back his dizziness, "I-I tripped." He stuttered out. Gladio looked down at his face, seeing how pale it was and the way he was sweating way more than normal.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Gladio pressed, hand staying firmly where it was, not allowing the other to move.

Prompto took a quick scan around. "Can this um, can this wait until we aren't standing on a literal frying pan?" He gently pulled his arm away to turn around and gradually started to make his way back down the slope, finding it much easier this time around. With a heavy sigh, Gladio was close behind, ready to catch him should he falter again.

He hated to admit it, but he was pretty surprised that he made it to the bottom without anymore stumbles. "See?" No problem." He spoke up, despite the other having said nothing.

"So, you care to explain what that was back there?" Gladio asked, looking into the blond's still pale face, though it appeared as though he weren't sweating quite as much anymore.

Prompto's eyes flicked around, unsure of how to answer that himself. "It was just the heat, you felt it didn't you?" He gestured towards the steaming landscape, "But it's fine now." His eyes teared up a bit as he fought back a new wave of nausea, but was unable to stifle it completely this time. With how strongly he came on this time, he dropped to his knees, hand against a nearby boulder as he gagged on it. Luckily for him, nothing ever came up though.

"Sure looks fine to me" Gladio dropped next to him and placed a hand on his back until he was done. "So what's really wrong?" He asked again.

Prompto slowly shook his head, "Don't know." He winced as a particular painful throb shot through his skull, "But my head hurts." He admitted, lifting a hand to it. "Came outta nowhere. All of it, came outta nowhere." Placing both hands on the rock, he began pulling himself back up, "Come on, we gotta join the others."

"I don't think that's a great idea." Gladio stopped him by gripping his arm again.

"It's not that big of a deal." Prompto tried to argue, "I can still walk." He snatched his arm away and started walking in the direction they had gone anyway. Gladio was back next to him the moment he noticed him tilt to the side.

"Dammit." He muttered, jumping forward to catch him before he hit the ground. "Hey, you with me?" His eyes were still open, but he wasn't looking at anything. Then Gladio noticed the way he was breathing, coming out in quick and shallow puffs. "Prompto?" Eventually he looked over and blinked a few times.

"Gladdy..." He finally said between breaths. "I think...I think something's...wrong."

"I would say so." He joked, trying to hide his own panic. "Look, I'm going to move you somewhere else, and then I'm calling Ignis, alright?" He didn't wait for him to respond as he immediately hoisted him up and carried him a good distance away from the scalding stones. Carefully lying him back down, he retrieved his phone and dialed the number. It didn't take long for him to get an answer. "Hey, you need to hurry back." He spoke quickly as soon as he heard the response.

Prompto watched from where he was, deciding it was best to stay where he was as he just felt purely awful now. He took a deep breath and rolled over onto his side, curling up slightly. Unaware of how much time had passed, he was jolted when Gladio crouched back down next to him, "Sorry, but I gotta move you somewhere else." He only nodded as he was picked back up and brought over to a more shaded area. Placing him back down he removed the bandanna from his arm and began removing his vest as well. "Gotta get all this off ya." He stated, lying the articles to the side. "We have to cool you down." He said more to himself than anything.

Prompto weakly nodded, "Ok." He closed his eyes tightly as the throbbing in his head got a bit more intense.

"The others are on their way." He informed as he placed a couple fingers on Prompto's neck, checking everything like Ignis had instructed over the phone. His pulse was strong, but it felt way too fast to him. Not to mention his skin was so warm.

"Wha-what's wrong?" The blond asked, gasping as he was assaulted by another cramp in his abdomen.

Gladio didn't answer right away as went to remove his shoes now, "From what I've told Ignis, he thinks it might be heat exhaustion, or something along those lines." He finished removing the boots and sat those to the side as well, "But we can't say for sure, he'll figure it out when he gets here." Prompto only nodded, and he wasn't sure if he actually understood what he said. "How ya holdin' up?" He sat down next to him, and kept his eyes down the path the others had taken.

He smiled nervously at that, something between a laugh and a groan coming out, "Not very good...if I'm being...honest." He still seemed to have a hard time catching his breath as he tried to relax, but the cramps that came and went were making that quite difficult. "I think..I think I'm...dying."

Gladio sighed at that, "Noctis was right, you are a drama queen." He laughed to himself, not getting the same response from the other. "Come on, you know it's funny." When he still didn't get a response, he turned back around to face the blond, feeling a bit more panicked at seeing his eyes closed again. "Hey." He patted his cheek lightly, getting a groan out of him.

He was vaguely aware of the footsteps behind him and nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "How is he?" Ignis asked, taking Gladio's place as he moved over for him.

"I dunno, he passed out just before you got here."

Ignis went over the same things Gladio did, checking his pulse and the sort. "Should have noticed something was wrong when the cramps started." He said under his breath as he started removing Prompto's tank top now. "Noct, I could use your assistance on something." He waved him over once he was done with his task.

"What is it?" He asked, kneeling down next to him.

"I need you to use your magic." He stated calmly, "We need to cool him off, so if you could use a bit of your ice magic, that would be helpful. Just go easy with it." He warned, stepping back. "If you can, try to just use it under his arms."

Noctis nodded as he allowed a thin shroud to coat his hands. "Alright, here we go." Gently, he placed his hands where Ignis had instructed, almost pulling away when the blond jerked and gasped at the touch. His eyes didn't open, but his breathing did start to come out quicker than it was.

"Just hold them there." Ignis said as he took out a bottle of water and poured a very small amount over his body, including his face. "Gladio, if you would, use his shirt and start fanning him."

"He's gonna be alright, right?" Noctis asked, still holding his hands where they were, concerned by the way Prompto still didn't wake up.

Ignis didn't respond immediately, pouring a little more water over the blond, "He will if we get him cooled off enough." He finally spoke, though the others didn't miss the slight worry in his voice. "But I believe he will be."

* * *

Slowly, he became aware of a dull and throbbing pain bouncing around in his head; it was almost unbearable. He wanted it to go away, but it only got worse and prevented him from going back to where he was comfortable. And the heat. It was far to excessive for his liking. Trying to figure out what was going on, his thoughts were interrupted as he felt something bitingly cold run over his body, running through him almost. And following that was the wet sensation that coated him. With all this, there was no way he was going to be able to go back to where he was.

He tried opening his eyes, but no luck, his eyelids just weren't cooperating, and now that he thought about it, nothing seemed to be. So, he tried to speak instead. It felt like something came out, but he didn't hear anything, so he tried again. After this attempt he could make out voices around him, all of them relatively quiet. Quiet and accompanied by the feeling of something tapping his face. He half wanted it to go away, half wanted to see what it was.

With determination, he was finally able to force his eyes partially open, seeing nothing as the brightness rendered his sight useless. Blinking against it, he was slowly getting used to it, thankful when it was cut off. After a split moment, he realized it was cut off due to someone standing in front of it, blocking it from his view. "-ey" He heard them say, but it was hard to tell who it was. "Hey, you there?" they repeated. It was a soft and calm voice, only one person he knew that could sound that suave.

"Ignis." He tried to say, but he wasn't sure if it came out that way or not. He could only assume it did as he replied.

"Yeah." He answered, sounding a little distant to him, "How do you feel?" He asked, hand back on his face, the other was pressed against his neck.

He hummed for a moment, thinking about it. "Weird." He replied after taking a deep breath. "Wha- what's going on?" He throat felt dry as it protested against the use.

"Simply put, you got too hot." He answered flatly, "So tell me, how do you feel, other than 'weird'?"

"Ummm." He started, trying to figure it out for himself. "Head hurts...everything kinda feels heavy." He slurred out, looking around and just now noticing the others. Then it hit him. "Wait. Did you guys find it?"

Ignis looked confused for a moment, then it clicked. "Yes, we found the tomb."

Prompto visibly looked relieved by that. "Good, wasn't a wasted trip then." He sighed, swallowing against the dryness in his mouth and throat.

"I need you to drink some water now, whether you want to or not." Ignis said, already working to help him set up. Gladio stepped in to help with that, propping him up against the stone behind him. Taking out a second bottle of water, Ignis unscrewed the cap and handed it over. "Think you can hold it?

Prompto nodded, "Yeah." He wanted to make a smart remark to that, but honestly wasn't feeling up to it. He lifted it and took a couple experimental sips. The first few doing nothing but making him feel sick, but after a few more, the feeling slowly subsided. He went to hand it back, but it was firmly pushed back.

"Drink more than that." Ignis said sternly, "You are severely dehydrated, so until you drink more, we are going to stay right here." Prompto looked annoyed by that, but reluctantly lifted it back up. "And Noct, keep your hands on him."

Noctis nodded and placed them back on his body. The blond almost spit his water out, jumping at the touch, "Hey!" He blurted out, gazing down and now noticing the lack of clothing he had on, face slightly reddening at the knowledge. "Wha-why am I...Why are my...clothes gone?" He asked, still having a bit of trouble catching his breath.

"Sorry, but we had to remove unneeded clothing in order to cool you off more." Ignis informed, not at all sounding sorry about it in the slightest. "And no, they are not going back on anytime soon."

Gladio was still crouched next to him, "Prom, why didn't say something sooner. I know this didn't hit all at once. So, why didn't you say anything?"

The latter looked down for a moment, feeling embarrassed about the whole situation, "I dunno." He answered at first, but looking back up and seeing their faces told him he should change his answer, "I um, well it was my idea to come here in the first place." He said quietly, "It didn't feel right pushing the idea, and then com-" He gasped and wrapped an arm around himself as another cramp seized him. "Couldn't complain when I'm the one that pressed it." He said between grit teeth, relaxing back once it faded away.

"That doesn't mean you keep things like this to yourself." Noctis scolded from where he was.

"I'm sorry." Prompto replied, leaning his head back as he held the water with both hands now, "But I'm fine now."

"Prompto, you essentially had a heat stroke, you are not fine." Ignis said with authority in his voice, "You can't just brush this off." He gazed down at him, almost daring him to argue with him.

"I-I know." He stuttered out, "I didn't know this would happen though." He blinked against the blurriness the crept at the edges of his vision. "I'm sorry."

Ignis turned his attention to Gladio now, "Get ready to get up, we need to get him out of this heat, or he's only going to get worse again." He stepped away to gather up Prompto's things in his arms. "And before you ask, no, you are not walking anywhere." He only nodded, knowing it was no use in protesting.

With that being said, Gladio easily scooped him up in his arms, noticing that he still felt quite warm to the touch. "Noct, if you are able, do try to keep your hands where they are." Ignis threw in as he took the lead for the trek back down. The prince nodded, making sure to keep as close as he could, and only removing his hands when they needed to separate for the sake of descending.

Gladio normally wouldn't have much of an issue getting down, but with the addition of another, he had to admit it was a bit more troublesome, no that he would ever let Prompto know that. He would only feel guilty about it, he was sure.

By the time they finally reached the bottom, the sun was already starting to set. Ignis ran ahead of the others, starting up the Regalia and instantly turning the air on, cooling the car off as much as he could before the others caught up. "Go ahead and put him in the back." He instructed as Gladio approached. He nodded and gently eased him into the back seat, who stubbornly tried to do most of the work himself, despite Ignis' earlier words.

The others quickly joined in, getting situated as Ignis began the drive back. "So." Noctis spoke from the front seat, breaking the silence, "Did you get your picture?"

"Yeah, I think I got a decent one." Prompto replied, going to sit up, but Gladio stopped him with a single hand. "I'm not sure though, since my vision was a bit out of whack." He added a little sheepishly, still feeling slightly shameful about the whole thing. He knew he shouldn't be ashamed of it, but he couldn't help it.

"Well, I guess he'll just have to be happy with what he gets." Gladio stated, almost daring Vyv to complain about the shot after all this. After he literally risked his life for it. "And if he doesn't like it, then he'll just have to deal with it, now won't he?"

Prompto only smiled and nodded, resting his head back down. It was quite remarkable how tired heat could make you. "Guess so." He replied, letting his eyes slide shut and allowed himself to drift off. He had managed to keep himself awake the entire way down, so he figured he deserved to finally give in now.

* * *

Next time he awoke, he noticed that he felt much more comfortable and a lot cooler. Not to mention, he was able to come to with much more ease, eyes opening by will, and limbs cooperating. "Good to see you finally awake." He snapped his head to the side, gaze falling on Noctis.

"What?" He spoke, voice hoarse from the lack of use.

"You were out for a while there, we were actually starting to worry for a bit." He looked to the other side as he followed Noctis' gaze, finding the other two standing a few feet away.

"Vyv accepted the picture by the way." Gladio said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Also, the photo turned out fine in case you were wondering."

"Told you I had it." Prompto replied with fake over-confidence. Slowly his face fell, "How, um, how long was I out?" He glanced around the room, recognizing it as their room in Lestallum. He didn't even remember arriving here.

"Don't worry." Ignis spoke from his spot softly, "It was only about twelve hours or so, you didn't lose too much time." He strolled over and sat on the bed next to him, "I hope you are feeling better though." Without waiting for a reply to that, he reached out to feel the side of his face as well as his neck for his pulse.

"I-I think I am?" He sounded unsure of himself, "I mean, I still have a slight headache and all, but I don't feel too terrible." He answered honestly. Going to sit up, he immediately had to stop himself, the movement causing his sight to swim a tad. "Ok, never-mind." He said under his breath leaning back once more.

"Not so fast." Ignis warned, pulling his hands back. Turning back to Gladio, "Can you bring some water?" He nodded as he stepped away, "It may take a few days or so for you to be moving about like normal, so until then, you need to stay rested."

Prompto didn't appear too fond of that, but agreed to it nonetheless, "Alright, you have my word." He forced out, eyes switching to Gladio as he returned.

Seeing as his previous attempt ended in a failure, he allowed Ignis to help him sit up this time as Gladio handed him the glass. He hadn't realized how thirsty he really was until he took the first sip. He wanted nothing more than to down the whole glass, but he knew better than that and made himself take it more slowly. "Thanks." He breathed out once the glass was empty and handed it back to Gladio.

"No problem." He replied, taking the container back to refill it just in case.

Closing his eyes, Prompto lied back down, feeling drained again. "We plan on staying here for a little while, so take all the time you need." Ignis pushed himself up, and made his way to the door, "I'll be back shortly, I need to pick up a few things." He stopped and turned back around before leaving, "And please, do refrain from getting up. At least for the time being." Turning back around, he exited.

Prompto looked back over to Noctis as Gladio returned and placed the second glass on the table next to the bed. "Sorry again about this, it could have so easily been avoided if I wasn't so stubborn."

"Look, no one blames you, ya know." Noctis reassured, "I'm pretty sure any of us would have done the exact same thing giving the same situation."

Gladio sighed from the other side, "I hate to admit it, but he is right. I don't think I would have said anything either." He strolled over to the other bed and took a set, tossed his legs up as he lied back as well. "Well, I'm going to sleep now, wake me if you need me for anything."

"Yeah, will do." Noctis responded, turning back to Prompto, "I think I'm going to follow his example, so don't hesitate if you need to."

"I won't." He doubted he would, feeling on the verge of passing out himself. He rolled over onto his side, closing his eyes as he listened to the sound of the other two breathing, the sound of the prince's footsteps as he walked to the other side of the room and climbed into bed next to Gladio.


End file.
